


Changing Tactics

by rainbowtourmaline



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Emotional Manipulation, F/F, Femslash, Femslash February, Femslash February 2019, Post-Canon, Redemption, Spirit World
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 17:11:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17646584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowtourmaline/pseuds/rainbowtourmaline
Summary: “If we can find the right vessel for you…”“I can come back to Earth!”“And you can rule the Northern Water Tribe!”Azula thinks she's found her ticket to taking back her throne, but will teaming up with a new ally help her get her what she wants?And why does Princess Yue, after she sacrificed herself to save the Northern Water Tribe, want to come back to Earth?





	Changing Tactics

“If we can find the right vessel for you…”

“I can come back to Earth!”

“And you can rule the Northern Water Tribe!”

Azula remembered that day they were both shoulder deep in water like it was yesterday. The water in the Spirit World lakes were icy cold, but it hadn’t bothered Princess Yue one bit when she had rescued the Fire Nation Princess from drowning. She didn’t even get tired when she wrapped her arms around Azula’s waist and hoisted her from the river like she was lighter than a bag of grapes, after the firebender had complained about the chill in her bones.

When Azula finally caught her breath back on land, she told Yue: “If I help you, you owe me big time” as if the Water Tribe princess hadn’t just saved her life.  

“Of course!” Princess Yue smiled at her. “We’re friends and friends always help each other.”

Azula had scoffed at Princess Yue behind her back for her nativity.

“Then it’s a deal.” She also thought it was really creepy how Yue’s hand was still warm as they shook on their agreement. Dead people shouldn’t radiate heat but Azula found that it was one of the many unpleasant things about the Spirit World. “Let’s start our mission by doing some research.”

Princess Yue had tried to warn Azula against going to Wan Shi Tong’s Library, as it was well known within the Spirit World that the old owl wasn’t happy with the Avatar and his friends when he discovered that they were going to use his library’s knowledge for war.

Azula wanted to roll her eyes at the thought that some filthy pigeon could best her in a fight, but instead she countered Yue by saying Wan Shi Tong shouldn’t paint humans with the same brush and she was happy to negotiate a deal with the spirit that would make both parties happy. ‘And if he doesn’t see things my way I’ll happily zap him into dust.’

Azula hadn’t been able to bend lightening since she escaped The Boiling Rock prison by the skin of her teeth, but it wasn’t a big deal. She was sure that in the heat of battle her abilities would come back to her, especially with the promise of a great chicken dinner serving as proper motivation. She was getting sick of eating Spirit World fruit.

“All right. I hope Wan Shi Tong will listen to you.” Princess Yue said. Azula wasn’t too pleased at her lack of faith in her ability to manipulate people, especially since the silly fool had bought Azula’s ‘heartfelt’ speech about wanting to redeem herself and find a new purpose, but instead Azula replied: “I hope so too!”

If they had been back in the world of humans Azula would have happily insulted the Water Tribe Princess, her ridiculous hair, and her inability to see Azula’s greatness. Everyone in the Fire Nation knew better than to try and best her – her reputation and prowess in battle spoke for itself, especially after she conquered Ba Sing Se with just her and a small elite team.

If her and Yue had been in her territory, she would have snapped: “I commanded an entire Earth Kingdom army at fifteen, but you couldn’t even live past your sixteenth birthday.”

Azula took a deep breath and counted to ten – knowing that the consequences for insulting Princess Yue would be… undesirable.

Azula was perfect, but after her unprecedented failure during the final battle at Sozin’s Comet – she had spent a lot of time analysing what had went wrong.

“So your friends just… abandoned and betrayed you?” Yue asked one night as Azula set up for camp. Despite being the perfect princess, Azula still needed her beauty sleep and they were not going to get to Wan Shi Tong’s library in one day.

“Yes.” Azula said as she added more wood to her fire. She didn’t mention the times she had ‘managed’ her friends like the ‘people person’ she was or her suspicions that her mother had somehow turned her friends against her. She also chose not to expand on her answer to give a deeper explanation on why that was. Her silence was enough to get Yue’s imagination going.

“I’m so sorry Azula.” The Fire Nation Princess smirked. Her back had been turned to the other princess, but she didn’t need eyes in the back of her head to see that sad little pout and those adorable little does eyes welling up on Yue’s face. She was so predictable, it was almost cute. “That must have been horrible.”  

Azula laughed in a way that she knew as the right amount of amused but bitter.

“With friends like that who needs enemies?” Azula said. “It’s fine, I’m better off on my own anyway. You can’t be betrayed if you don’t have any friends, right?”   

‘Take the bait Yue.’ Azula deserved to win an Oscar for her captivating performance. Whatever an Oscar was…

She hadn’t expected Princess Yue to float towards her and grab both her hands. They were still unusually warm.

“You have a friend. _I’m_ your friend. All the other spirits have been telling me I shouldn’t go back to Earth, but you are here supporting my dream.” Princess Yue spoke passionately, eyes burning with determination. “So I promise I won’t betray you. Please don’t think everyone is going to be like your old friends. You’ve made some mistakes in the past, but that doesn’t mean you deserve to be alone.”

Azula desperately wanted to snatch her hands away but held her temper.

“You can trust me, Princess Azula.” Yue promised. “You go rest and I’ll gather your food for tomorrow. You’ll need your strength when we meet Wan Shi Tong.”

Azula smirked. As much she hated pretending to be equals with Princess Yue, it had its perks. Who else cold say The Moon Spirit brought them food like a love-stricken handmaiden?

“Don’t stray too far, I don’t want us to get separated!” Azula shouted after her, earning another smile from Yue.

As soon as she was out of earshot though, Azula quietly cackled to herself as she lay back on the grass, making herself comfortable as her little servant provided her sustenance and pondered what other menial things she could get Princess Yue to do without compromising her plan.

Azula smiled to herself, realising she was surpassing her old, naïve self. Her past mistake was not cultivating enough loyal ‘allies’. Getting people to fear you was easy and effective to a degree, but tricking people into ‘loving’ you could have unexpected results with long-term benefits – as she saw with her brother Zuko and his motley crew.  

Make no mistake though, just because she had learned a lesson from her brother didn’t mean he had changed a bit since childhood. The Fire Nation was not going to easily accept Zuko and The Avatar’s ‘peaceful utopia’, so all Azula had to do was wait until Zuko made one mistake and she could waltz right back into the Fire Nation with a powerful, newly resurrected ally on her arm and claim back her throne.  

This ‘friendship’ was going to be fun.  


End file.
